The Lion-Prince
by Kit2000
Summary: Princess Claire is forced to marry a winner of a knight-tournament. While being distressed, she found a wounded lion in a forest and so she started to take care of him. Little did she know that she had found her destiny that fateful day. A Leon/Claire fairytale.


_A/N So, here is another mini fairytale we prepared for you, guys._

_We hope you will like this story as much as we do. Thank for always being there for us, guys. Your support is highly appreciated!_

_So…____Read, enjoy and don't forget to review. Thank you very much in advance, guys._

_And one more thing...If you aren't Claire/Leon supporter or you don't like our ideas for the fanfics- DON'T BOTHER TO READ and We DONT NEED TO KNOW IT!_

**The Lion-Prince**

Once upon a time there lived a princess. She was beyond beautiful, smart and kind-hearted. One day she learnt that her brother – King Christopher - wanted to set up a knight-tournament on her 18th birthday and marry her away to a winner. The princess got so distressed, that she rode away to a forest to calm down a little and get used to her brother's order. It was beyond unfair in her opinion. She wished to marry a man she would love, but her destiny was making her to marry by force.

In the forest the maiden found a wounded lion. The beauty's heart tightened upon seeing the animal lying with deep and severe wounds in an unconscious state. There was a lake not far from the place and Claire (that was the princess's name) poured some water in a kettle and boiled it. She had some herbs in her first aid kit, so she cleared up the lion's wounds and put the herbs on them to kill the infection. The maiden didn't have any bandages with her, so she ripped her under-skirt of her beautiful dress into long stripes and after treating the animal's wounds, she bandaged them neatly and carefully. She covered the poor thing with her travelling cloak and sat by his side. Claire spent the whole night taking care of the sleeping lion and only in the early morning he opened his azure eyes.

Claire was afraid of the wild animal's reaction, but to her great surprise, he didn't show any signs of aggression. On the contrary, he was calm and friendly and he gave her an opportunity to examine the wounds. The girl was glad to see that the blood had stopped. The inflammation had subsided too.

The princess and the lion became friends. Claire visited her pet every day, bringing fresh food from the castle. The lion was still too weak and he couldn't hunt for food. The maiden loved stroking his thick mane. She felt very comfortable in the lion's company and it seemed as if her friend could understand everything without words. She had never met such understanding in her whole life. And so she told her lion the sad story of her life, about how her brother didn't want to give her the freedom to choose a fiancé, but promised her as a reward to a winner of a knight-tournament.

"In a month, the very day of my birthday, I will be forced to marry the champion of a stupid tournament."

Great misery reflected in the lion's eyes when she told her story. He walked up to the princess and she hugged him by the head. The maiden and the wild animal were very close on a spiritual level. They could understand each other without any words.

One day Claire came by horse to visit her friend. She was dressed in a travelling clothes and she looked disappointed. The maiden said that they had to hurry and leave that place.

"We got information that a wild beast appeared in these lands and it attacks people. My brother formed a special squad to find the beast and kill it. But I know that's it's not you, my dear lion!"

She said that she believed her friend and it must have been another wild animal. But if people would see the lion they would think that it was him, who had attacked those innocent people and they would try to kill him in order to eliminate the danger. Claire couldn't let it happen. She promised her lion that she would take him away to a safer place.

Before the ride, the princess decided to refill her flask. She asked her friend to wait for her by the horse until she came back.

The maiden was too occupied to feel an upcoming danger, when a big tiger came out from the bushes and got ready to attack her. Only when the tiger roared and scowled at her, Claire felt the terrifying feeling of an inevitable death.

She was in a terrible situation. The only weapon she had with her was her traveling dagger. She threw it at the tiger and wounded its paw, but it wasn't enough to stop the beast. On the contrary, the animal got even more aggressive and it prepared for the final attack.

But suddenly the lion appeared out of nowhere and stood in front of the princess, blocking the tiger's way towards her. He beat the tiger's muzzle with his powerful paw, and it caused the intruder to jump away. But it wasn't enough to make it surrender. The mortal combat began. The lion fought for Claire using all his strength. His wounds were still not completely healed but it didn't prevent him from being a protector. He tore the tiger's throat apart with his fangs, and the latter died in agony.

Claire was in great shock. She couldn't stand on her feet as her whole body was trembling after a horrific accident. The lion walked up to the girl and looked at her in great concern. Claire grabbed him by the head and pulled his blood-stained muzzle closer to her face.

"You have saved my life. Thank you, my brave lion. I owe you. You are very dear to me and I will never let anyone harm you," and with those words Claire kissed the lion's dirty nose with all the feelings she had for her dear friend. But then the maiden felt dizzy and she started to faint. With a corner of her sub- consciousness she noticed a golden light that embraced the animal, and the next second the lion vanished and a handsome young man appeared in the forest on the very same spot her friend was standing just a second ago. And then Claire's mind went dark and she lost her consciousness.

After the girl's kiss the lion turned into a prince. He was fully dressed in luxury clothes, as if he had just came from a ball. The magic had healed all his wounds and cleaned all the blood stains on his body and face. The young man lifted the princess's falling body in his arms. He stroked her pale cheek tenderly and then kissed her slightly opened lips with all the romantic emotions his heart felt for the princess. The man carried her towards the horse, but a sound of a coming group of people made him flinch.

The prince couldn't take the princess with him. He decided to leave her lying on the grass, so that people could find and help her. He laid her gently on a green carpet and removed his ring. He took her hand in his and put the ring on her wedding finger. By doing so he gave her a promise to come back and meet her again. He would win the knight-tournament and conquer her heart. Because she became the most precious person to the prince. He fell in love with the girl with all his heart and soul. And now he couldn't imagine his life without her.

The royal heir climbed the maiden's horse and rode away to his kingdom only to get all his duties done and come back in full preparation for the upcoming tournament. He would definitely become the winner and meet his fiancée.

It had been several weeks since the day the soldiers found Claire in the forest. People thought that it must have been the princess, who killed the dangerous tiger. Claire kept on saying that it wasn't her, but no one believed her. Everyone considered her a national hero.

Meanwhile, the girl had the same dream over and over again. It was about her lion, which suddenly turned into a young man. She thought that she was losing her mind slowly but surely. She missed her precious friend a lot and couldn't find place due to separation. She started to lose weight and suffer from insomnia. She was exhausted to no limits. King Christopher was worried about his sister's health. At first he wanted to cancel the tournament, but then he decided against it. He wanted Claire to distract from her misery and have some fun. And the knight-tournament was exactly what she needed.

The last day of the tournament had finally come. Lots of princes and noblemen attended the event to fight for the princess's heart. But only the strongest ones made it to the 3rd day of the competition and they had to fight in full strength. The battle was very spectacular and thrilling, but in the end a young prince from a famous Kennedy Kingdom won the first award. His battle skills impressed King Christopher a lot. He had never seen anyone of such a young age to fight that skillfully and brilliantly. The king declared Prince Leon to be the champion and the official fiancé to his sister. The king asked Claire to put a wreath of a winner on the prince's head. And the princess did what she had been told emotionlessly. She didn't care, she couldn't force her heart to love her fiancé. The girl put the wreath on the man's head indifferently as if she was some kind of a doll.

The prince's heart barely tore apart when he saw the princess's lifeless eyes. His beloved maiden was like an absolutely another person. She was so pale and exhausted that it looked like she would faint any minute. Leon got scared for her well-being.

He stood on his knees before her and let her put the crown of a winner on his head. Then he took her hand and kissed it tenderly and admirably. The girl didn't expect such behavior from him, and he just stood up and without any other word he walked her to the throne where she had been sitting before.

"I beg you a pardon milady, but I assume that my presence made you weary".

The king supported the prince's words and let his sister go to her chambers. The monarch liked the way the prince expressed care towards his sister. He would become a good husband to her.

After a luxury banquet, the ruler asked his future brother-in-law to go to his cabinet. There the old man shared his fears about his sister's health. He couldn't understand what was happening to her. She was melting away like a candle. And also he was blaming himself for setting up that tournament for her hand. It was too rushed. She couldn't marry anyone in such horrible condition.

The prince was about to ask the king not to cancel his and princess's wedding, but his intentions were interrupted by a doctor, who entered the cabinet. The doctor informed that the princess was suffering from severe fever and medicine couldn't help her.

Both royal men rushed to the princess's chambers only to find her in the bed unconscious. When Leon saw his beloved girl by the death's door, he almost lost his sanity from sorrow. The king ordered everyone to leave the room, letting only the prince and queen Jill to stay. The king was on the edge of despair of losing his precious sister, when the prince remembered about a secret potion his father had given him before Leon set off for a knight-tournament. The old monarch said that the potion had been passing from king to king in the Kennedy dynasty, and now there was little of the potion left, so the prince had to use it only in the last resort. He took a medallion out of his shirt and found a little bottle in it. There was some red liquid inside. The young man walked to the princess's bed and after taking the liquid into his mouth, he bent down above the sleeping beauty and pressed his lips to the girl's pale ones, pouring the potion inside her mouth through that forbidden kiss he had given her.

The king was utterly surprised and irritated, but the prince hurried to calm him down by telling him that it was the best way to give the princess the medicine. After hard musings king Christopher and his wife queen Jill decided to give prince Leon some privacy with the princess. It was an uneasy decision, but the monarchs understood that there was no one who could save Claire but this young man, who would become her husband in the nearest future.

Prince Leon was very grateful to the rulers for understanding. When he was left alone in the room, he sat on the edge of Claire's bed and took her hot hand in his. He brought it to his lips and left a tender kiss on each of her fingers. She had saved him from death with her kindness, and now he longed to save her life. He prayed with all his heart for her recovery, and a miracle had finally happened. Claire started to come to her senses.

The maiden opened her eyes slowly and looked at the young man who was holding her by the hand. Judging by her expression, the prince understood that she was utterly taken aback to see him.

"Don't you recognize me at all?" Leon asked in a sad tone.

The girl shook her head in negation slowly.

"You are wearing a ring on your necklace. That ring has a symbol of my kingdom," the prince uttered quietly, looking at the very golden object on her neck.

Claire's eyes widened in bewilderment. She really wore a necklace and a ring, which she unexpectedly had found on her finger the day she had been rescued in the forest.

"I was the one who put it on your finger as a proof and promise that I would come back to meet you again".

"It can't be!" exclaimed the princess and sat abruptly on her bed. The young man took a little piece of her under-skirt out of his pocket and showed it to her to prove his words. The maiden touched the soft white fabric with the tips of her long beautiful fingers. She remembered it right away. She had used that stripe to bandage the lion's wounds in the past.

"But how can it be possible? Does it mean that the lion and you are a single whole?" she asked in curiosity, yet her voice sounded worried.

The prince looked at her with tenderness in his azure-blue eyes and nodded softly in a sign of agreement.

"My kingdom had been attacked by a powerful wizard Wesker. I had to fight him and I won in the end, but before his death Wesker put a spell on me and turned me into an animal, wishing me to suffer for the rest of my life. The wounds I got during the battle worsened and they caused me an unbearable pain. And when I lost the last hope and thought that my end was about to come, you appeared before my eyes and cured me," with those words he extended his hand and stroked Claire's cheek in great adoration and trepidation.

His soft touch made the girl blush slightly, but she didn't avert her careful eyes from his manly face. She just kept on looking at him, while she couldn't get enough of admiring his breathtakingly blue eyes, which were the same as her friend lion had. Now she knew for sure, that her heart didn't fail her when she felt something familiar and dear towards that knight on the tournament. Thanks to him, Claire started to come to life and the misery began fading away from her heart.

"Did you come for me?" the beauty asked, not believing in the happening.

"Yes. After you broke the spell, I got a chance to be with you forever. I fell in love with you while being a lion, princess. But I was an animal back then and I couldn't even dare to dream about you. But after turning into a human again, I decided to win the tournament and conquer your heart. I love you, my sweet princess, and I can't imagine my life without you. Being away from you tortures my heart and soul," Leon said, expressing everything he felt for Claire through his sincere words.

The girl felt so pleased and cherished when his strong and heartfelt aura embraced her softly. It was still hard to believe that her dearly loved lion was a prince. She missed her friend so much that it was taking her vital strength away. She fell in love with that brave animal so deeply, that the love towards him made her suffer. But now she got a chance to become happy.

Claire threw herself in the prince's arms, to his great surprise, and hugged him tightly and affectingly, showing the power of her deep feelings towards him.

She buried her face in the crook of his neck, inhaling a unique scent of his blond silky hair.

"I love you too, my dearest lion," she whispered in his ear.

The young man embraced his fiancée in return. They were utterly happy right now. Prince Leon made a proposal to his beloved maiden and she agreed right away. She wouldn't stand it to get separated from him ever again.

The prince put a wedding ring on her finger and kissed her sweet lips emotionally and sensually. They continued kissing each other for a long time, not daring to break their special and newly-gained bond just yet. Claire sensed as live started to fill her very being. She desired to live again so much. The rest of the night the couple in love spent lying in the princess's bed while embracing each other affectionately. They didn't talk much, it wasn't necessary. Prince Leon stroked his adored girl's hair admiringly. Their happiness consisted of being together and close to each other. They understood each other without words, just as before.

In the morning Claire begged her brother to marry her away to prince Leon. King Christopher was in great shock by the changes in her mood. His sister refused to wait any day longer. She longed to marry the prince here and now. So, the king ordered to hold the wedding ceremony the next morning.

After the wedding, Leon took his queen on the board of his fabulous ship and they sailed to his kingdom, where they lived a long and happy life.

Queen Claire loved to tell her children a legend about a lion-prince as a fairytale in the evenings. And the little heirs didn't even suspect that the wonderful and magical legend was their mother and father's true love story. But it didn't matter for the time being. Claire would definitely open the secret, hidden behind that mysterious legend to them later. When the right time comes…

**-The End-**

**A/N this is it =) **_**Review, please? :love:**_

_**We don't have an illustration to this **__fairytale__**, so if there is anyone who can help us to show the heroes of this story in a picture, we will be eternally grateful! :pray:**_


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